The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I managed to survive it. Gather 'round kiddies and let me tell you the dark tales of what it was like to live in an age before the internet, cell phones, video games, satellite tv, and worst of all....no Blu-rays! Oh yea, you had to play outside a lot.

I was born in 1972, so I caught the end of those days.

I remember a time when, if you missed seeing a movie at the theater, then that movie was gone forever. There was no Blu-ray, no DVD, no VHS, and not even HBO or pay cable, so there was no way to catch a movie again after it left the theater. If you were extremely lucky, then you might catch a pan-and-scan edited-for-television version of a favorite movie on Sunday night on ABC, CBS, or NBC two or three years after its theatrical run, but that was all that you could hope for.

This is why I sometimes want to throat-punch people on this site who complain repeatedly about compression artifacts or edge enhancement on Blu-ray releases of insanely obscure 1970s drive-in flicks that we're lucky to see on home video in the first place.

[scottpcusa]

I just saw Jim Jarmusch's film, Paterson. I loved it! I can't wait to watch it again. i hope it gets a Criterion release.

I was pleasantly surprised by a scene

[Show spoiler] on the bus involving a conversation between 2 college students played by Jared Gilman (Sam Shakusky) and Kara Hayward (Suzy Bishop). Moonrise Kingdom is my second favorite Wes Anderson film, following closely behind The Darjeeling Limited.

I wonder, now, if Jim Jarmusch is a fan of Wes Anderson's work and intentionally placed that scene in the film as a little Easter Egg.

[t_rav]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

That's faulty logic. Those 160,000 posts aren't all about requests, so you can hardly get any grasp of demand from any sort out calculation like that. You would have to compare it against the total number of requests to make such a case.

And he listed total posts mentioning those films he listed. Not requesting the films. So, no. It's your logic that's faulty. That's the total number of mentions in the over 160,000 posts. It's a low percentage, as I said. Do you really think he/she listed the number of requests for those titles?

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by t_rav

And he listed total posts mentioning those films he listed. Not requesting the films. So, no. It's your logic that's faulty. That's the total number of mentions in the over 160,000 posts. It's a low percentage, as I said. Do you really think he/she listed the number of requests for those titles?

If you're going to get pedantic, you asked if you were the 'only one' and said 'nobody seems to ever talk about' them - you're not the only one and people do talk about them. Case closed.

Can we move on?

[t_rav]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

If you're going to get pedantic, you asked if you were the 'only one' and said 'nobody seems to ever talk about' them - you're not the only one and people do talk about them. Case closed.

Can we move on?

Great, another person completely missing the point due to a love of arguing for the sake of arguing.

Whether you realize it or not, reps of the labels DO read these boards to see what the people want. There is no thread I've been able to find for just Onibaba. And it's only been mentioned in less than 1% of over 160,000 posts on the Criterion thread. Not much motivation for them to release it anytime soon.

The point of my post (see my first post) was for people to chime in with either "yes, I would buy Onibaba (or any other listed) on blu" or "nah, I'd prefer this first". Show Criterion how well it would sell to motivate releases.

A few got that and posted as such. Others, apparently, would rather not say either way and just argue for no reason. The stupid arguing for no reason turns these boards away from what they are meant for and into a ridiculous reality show.

Say if you'd buy any or not, then move on. Save your love of arguing for no reason with your significant other. We're trying to get classics an HD upgrade here.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by t_rav

Great, another person completely missing the point due to a love of arguing for the sake of arguing.

Whether you realize it or not, reps of the labels DO read these boards to see what the people want. There is no thread I've been able to find for just Onibaba. And it's only been mentioned in less than 1% of over 160,000 posts on the Criterion thread. Not much motivation for them to release it anytime soon.

The point of my post (see my first post) was for people to chime in with either "yes, I would buy Onibaba (or any other listed) on blu" or "nah, I'd prefer this first". Show Criterion how well it would sell to motivate releases.

A few got that and posted as such. Others, apparently, would rather not say either way and just argue for no reason. The stupid arguing for no reason turns these boards away from what they are meant for and into a ridiculous reality show.

Say if you'd buy any or not, then move on. Save your love of arguing for no reason with your significant other. We're trying to get classics an HD upgrade here.

I've seen no evidence that Criterion reps spend any time browsing this thread.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by belcherman

The Sweet Smell of Success is probably my favorite Criterion release. Everything about it sizzles. Lancaster has never been more quietly menacing and nobody has been oilier than Curtis's Sidney Falco. The dialogue is like it was written with acid. In fact, I wouldn't change a frame of this movie. Best of all is the cinematography of James Wong Howe. This may be his best work.

Or arsenic.

A cookie-full.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I was born in 1972, so I caught the end of those days.

I remember a time when, if you missed seeing a movie at the theater, then that movie was gone forever. There was no Blu-ray, no DVD, no VHS, and not even HBO or pay cable, so there was no way to catch a movie again after it left the theater. If you were extremely lucky, then you might catch a pan-and-scan edited-for-television version of a favorite movie on Sunday night on ABC, CBS, or NBC two or three years after its theatrical run, but that was all that you could hope for.

This is why I sometimes want to throat-punch people on this site who complain repeatedly about compression artifacts or edge enhancement on Blu-ray releases of insanely obscure 1970s drive-in flicks that we're lucky to see on home video in the first place.

What? You don't love hearing arguments about compression artifacts or edge enhancement for pages and pages and pages to the point where the actual film the participants are arguing about becomes completely irrelevant?

Some of those arguments become so anal retentive and esocteric that even Vilmos Zsigmond and Roger Deakins would probably go, "Enough already. Just watch the f**king movie."

[jw007]

Originally Posted by scottpcusa

I just saw Jim Jarmusch's film, Paterson. I loved it! I can't wait to watch it again. i hope it gets a Criterion release.

I was pleasantly surprised by a scene

[Show spoiler] on the bus involving a conversation between 2 college students played by Jared Gilman (Sam Shakusky) and Kara Hayward (Suzy Bishop). Moonrise Kingdom is my second favorite Wes Anderson film, following closely behind The Darjeeling Limited.

I wonder, now, if Jim Jarmusch is a fan of Wes Anderson's work and intentionally placed that scene in the film as a little Easter Egg.

Dude, I need to see that film too! I wonder why it didn't have much of a wide release!? Arghh!

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I was born in 1972, so I caught the end of those days.

I remember a time when, if you missed seeing a movie at the theater, then that movie was gone forever. There was no Blu-ray, no DVD, no VHS, and not even HBO or pay cable, so there was no way to catch a movie again after it left the theater. If you were extremely lucky, then you might catch a pan-and-scan edited-for-television version of a favorite movie on Sunday night on ABC, CBS, or NBC two or three years after its theatrical run, but that was all that you could hope for.

This is why I sometimes want to throat-punch people on this site who complain repeatedly about compression artifacts or edge enhancement on Blu-ray releases of insanely obscure 1970s drive-in flicks that we're lucky to see on home video in the first place.

Having to wait to see a favorite film to show up on tv was why when VHS came along it was just so amazing to be able to watch a film (commercials and all) whenever you wanted. I get a little upset when people go on a rant about a older format like DVD and make it sound like watching or buying one is a sin against humanity. Nearly every (Divx excepted ) format made improvements in pq, aq, convenience, etc to get to where we are today.

[SammyJankis]

With another Koreeda on the horizon, I'm reminded yet again for my wish to have more of his work in the Collection. Maborosi and After Life particularly deserve the treatment, given their horrid DVD releases. Still Walking is such a stellar release, one I revisit often, and I was hoping that'd just be the starting point.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by Hoke Moseley

My body is not ready for that Le Samouraï upgrade. What will be this place's new upgrade Holy Grail?

Godard's output, the rest of Bergman's output, or War Kong Wai 4K mastered. Haxan, perhaps?

[MifuneFan]

My upgrade grail is: Ozu's Floating Weeds / Story of Floating Weeds

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Kino has the rights, and released it already a couple of years ago:

Too bad Adam Yauch wasn't around to appreciate that release. Alas...

[20th Century Boy]

As good as this month's announcement is, I cannot unclench my butt cheeks until 16 Candles is announced.

[LetsGetATaco]

Does Criterion still offer the replacement cases with the artwork for the first wave of digipack releases?

[dwk]

Originally Posted by LetsGetATaco

Does Criterion still offer the replacement cases with the artwork for the first wave of digipack releases?

They might for the in-print titles, but they no longer have replacement art for the OOP titles.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Last night, I shoved aside my growing stack of still-unwatched Blu-rays and decided to revisit my Criterion Blu-ray of Sweet Smell of Success.

This movie is so effing good. I still believe that this is one of the best, if not the absolute best, Criterion transfers of a black-and-white film. It's a marvelous-looking movie that really puts you square in the middle of the "dirty town."

Here's my User Review from a few years back...

Burt Lancaster's J.J. Hunsecker walks through Manhattan's club district and states, "I love this dirty town." As I watched the Criterion Blu-ray of Alexander Mackendrick's Sweet Smell of Success last night, I also could not help falling in love with the bustling visage of the seedy 1950s Manhattan club district, with all its bright lights shining through a gauzy haze of vehicle exhaust and cigarette smoke. The beauty of Blu-ray lies in the fact that old movies no longer look like "old movies" when they are lovingly restored for the high definition presentation, and this 1957 masterpiece of dialogue-driven film noir excels in the format so that these flashy streets and shadowy dive bar interiors pop out of the screen.

Sweet Smell of Success moves at an electrifying pace that belies its age, and it quickly drags the bewildered viewer through its realm, just as one might be led through a densely crowded corner bar by an intoxicated acquaintance. A lesser film would have presented us with a slower exposition explaining how the shady high-powered newspaper columnist, J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster), has tasked a bottom-feeding press agent, Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), with breaking up a relationship between Hunsecker's sister, Susan, and her jazz musician boyfriend by pulling strings within the gossip column inner circles, but Sweet Smell of Success simply pulls us off the streets and thrusts us into the fray of busy interactions and multi-layered jargon without any preliminary setup. The movie wastes no time placing us into the rat race firsthand so that we, like the beleaguered Sidney Falco, are constantly grasping for footholds to elevate us above the crowd.

The interesting thing about the rat race is that even the ones who win are still rats. With its story of desperate characters driven to corruption, prostitution, and desolate loneliness in the "manufactured necessity" world of media gossip culture, Sweet Smell of Success places us in the front row to watch the fall of the American dream up close. Like The Great Gatsby before it, and like Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross after it, Sweet Smell of Success relishes in the darker side of wealth and consumerism where hyenas seek fresh carcasses at any cost after the lions make the kills. Despite its bleak plot framework, however, Sweet Smell of Success still somehow proves to be an irresistibly rewarding cinematic venture. Traces of hope are still salvaged even in the smoky corners of crowded clubs and high rise apartments while the frenzied tempos of the jazz soundtrack keep us excited in the light and shadows.

I've never watched the film, but I'm usually against films that start throwing stuff at you right off the bat, but your review has me really interested.

[Abdrewes]

Heads up: Howard's End is on Netflix Instant

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by oildude

Or arsenic.

A cookie-full.

you all can throw tomatoes if you'd like, but I hate that line. I like the movie ok, but a lot of the dialogue that is so celebrated is just a bunch of gobbledy-gook, IMO.